PREVIEW | WTA Rome Open 2025 - Final: Coco Gauff aims to silence the crowd when she takes on local favorite Jasmine Paolini

After two intense weeks, the 2025 WTA Rome Open will reach its peak this Saturday, May 17, when American Coco Gauff takes on Italy's Jasmine Paolini on Campo Centrale court. Both top ten players arrive to this final with impressive credentials on clay this season, hoping to crown it with the coveted trophy.

The WTA Rome Masters is about to reveal its 2025 champion. While Iga Swiatek dominated almost every clay tournament last year (including this one), this season the spotlight has been more evenly distributed. Not even World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has been able to assert the same kind of dominance on this European swing -although she did battle fiercely deep into most events.

There were plenty of surprises in the Italian capital, starting with Sabalenka's quarterfinal exit, falling short of her consistent habit of reachin finals this year. Swiatek's struggles continued as she bowed out early, which opened the door for two players who have consistently been in the mix.

Let's break down the paths and chances of Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini, as they prepare to fight for the Rome title on Saturday night at the Foro Italico:

World No. 3 Coco Gauff booked her place in the final match with a magnificent performance over the course of two weeks. In fact, Gauff's strong run on clay started even before arriving in the Italian capital, it began the moment she landed in Europe to kick off this part of the season.

After closing out 2024 in dominant fashion, winning in China and capturing the WTA Finals crown, 2025 got off to a rough start for Gauff.

A painful quarterfinal defeat in Australia against Badosa seemed to throw her of course, leading to several early exits in key tournaments.

She underwhelmed during the Sunshine Double, but everything changed with her showing in Stuttgart. There, Gauff capitalizade on her clay-court stenghts -great movement and top-tier fitness. Her serve and backhand have always been weapons, but now she's added a far more reliable forehand to the mix.

She reached the semifinals at Roland Garros last year, so it's no surprise the 2023 US Open champion has the versatility and skill set to suceed on clay.

Yesterday, she outlasted a fierce opponent in Zheng Qinwen in a marathon battle that tested both players to the limit. Zheng had eliminated world no. 1 Sabalenka the day before, and against Gauff, the pair traded heavy blows for over three and a half hours. Prior to that, Coco had defeated rising Russian star Mirra Andreeva and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

Italy's Jasmine Paolini, hit the peak of her career exactly one year ago when she reached the Roland Garros final and then proved it was no fluke by making her second consecutive Grand Slam final at Wimbledon a few weeks later.

After that, however, came a drought. Hard courts have never been her strong suit, and from the US Open onward, Paolini struggled to advance past early rounds in most tournaments, dropping a few spots in the rankings and showing some signs of doubt -until Miami, where her momentum again started to shift after making her way to the quarterfinals.

Since then, she reached the semifinals in Stuttgart, had a minor stepback against Sakkari in Madrid, and now has a chance to become the first Italian woman to lift the Rome trophy since Raffaella Reggi. Along the way, she defeated high-caliber opponents like Peyton Stearns (the tournament's biggest surprise), Diana Shnaider and Jelena Ostapenko with authority and with the support of a very loud home crowd.

Paolini’s playing style is energetic and assertive, centered around strong groundstrokes and tireless movement. Despite her relatively small stature, she compensates with outstanding speed and quickness, often outworking taller opponents.

Ranked No. 5 in the world, Paolini trails Gauff 1-2 in their head-to-head, but she won their most recent encounter in the quarterfinals of Stuttgart.}

One of the main keys for tomorrow will be how each one of them serves. Coco's service is way more powerful than Jasmine's and if the American is feeling it, it could end up tilting the scale on her favor.

If Paolini wins Saturday's final, the 29-year-old would not only write another glorious chapter in Italian tennis history, but would also achieve a career-best ranking of No. 4 -bumping Swiatek to the last spot in the top 5.

As for Gauff, a victory would give her a massive boost of confidence ahead of the second Grand Slam of the year, where she'll be aiming to surpass her previous performance and win her second major title.

Either is Coco Gauff or Jasmine Paolini who clames the Rome Open title, this WTA 1000 clay-court double ended up satisfying everyone. Despite there are still some adjustments to be made and some fans can't quite get used to this two week format, we've experienced a rollercoaster of a emotions and witnessed some very good tennis duels. With surprises already shaking up the European swing, Roland Garros promises another thrilling chapter in a wide-open season.